Musclemass
The Musclemass power is an ability used exclusively by Alex Mercer in Prototype. While active, it boosts Alex's strength to immense proportions, increasing the damage done by melee attacks and thrown objects. James Heller substitutes the Tendrils power for this ability in Prototype 2. Strengths Musclemass increases Alex's melee damage twofold and increases the speed at which he strikes. At its base level, a charged attack will turn any human enemy it strikes into bloody chunks; once upgraded, even a glancing blow will cause this. Objects thrown with Musclemass will hit harder, fly further, and move faster than objects thrown at Alex's normal strength; upgrades will augment the distance. Though the game does not explicitly state it, all of Alex's Combat abilities, including Devastators, will be enhanced by Musclemass. This fact of Musclemass makes it one of the most damaging powers in the game if used with the right abilities. Musclemass is most effective when used on living targets; vehicles are largely immune, or at the very least highly resistant unless used in conjunction with the Cannonball attack or Bullet Dive Drop. The various shockwave abilities can clear entire crowds in close proximity. Thrown enemies/objects will also hit much more accurately thanks to the speed increase. Though Musclemass enhances the power of all combat class abilities, a few in particular benefit greatly from it. The Cannonball attack, augmented by Musclemass, can destroy a helicopter on any difficultly level with a charged attack. The Uppercut and its various add-on combo abilities also become extremely deadly, enough to reduce a Hunter to its recovery state with a single combo on Hard. Even the simple Air Kick can bring down a Helicopter in two hits, and will carry Alex much further than it normally does. Musclemass also has the power to greatly increase the damage of the Bullet Dive Drop. Executed correctly, this can be used to destroy multiple tanks simultaneously, without actually getting an exact hit on any of them, so long as they are in close proximity. It can also be used to destroy military bases or Hives with little to no concern for retaliation, save for Helicopters. Three Critical Pain Devastors are required to destroy a Hive. With Musclemass active, only two are needed. This may differ later in the game as a Hive's health scales. Even the knocking damage from sprinting with a Shield or Armor power is enhanced, as well as other miscellaneous damaging acts, such as denting objects during parkour or even creating shockwaves from high falls. Weaknesses The weakness of Musclemass is that it does not actually modify Alex's attack abilities, but only makes them more potent. It is useless against vehicles unless paired with Alex's high-end combat moves, and even then, Alex's other powers are far more efficient in this regard (except when destroying helicopters). The short range also requires Alex to get face-to-face with his opponents to deal damage. His other powers, by comparison, have some measure of area-affect that will hurt enemies around Alex in addition to his current target. Its consume animations also do not deal any collateral damage, which may end up hurting Alex more while being swarmed by minor infected especially at higher difficulties. Upgrades The upgrades include the Musclemass Boost, which increases the overall damage and effectiveness of Musclemass, and Musclemass Throw, which increases distance when throwing an object with Musclemass. Musclemass Power Gallery Rip Opener.png Uppercut.png Musclemass supersoldier.jpg Musclemass Boost.png|Musclemass Boost Musclemass Throw.png|Musclemass Throw Trivia * In Prototype 2, the uppercut-style consume animation is reused for one of James Heller's Tendrils power consume animations, only with additional Tendril creating effects. * The Flesh Cleaver consume animation is available in Prototype 2 as a pre-order incentive. Reference * Prototype * Prototype 2 Category:Offensive Powers Category:Prototype Powers